News Article

Dempo beat Salgaocar, go top of GPL

Kabil Hoble and Yogesh Kadam got on the scoresheet for the Golden Eagles.

Dempo Sports Club continued their excellent form in the league as they dunked Salgaocar Football Club 2-0 in the Goan classic rivalry match of the Goa Professional League played at Duler Stadium earlier today.

The Golden Eagles were in the fantastic form after registering back-to-back wins in the last two matches where they started with a comeback victory against Vasco SC, while drubbed FC Goa by four goals in the last match. Whereas the defending champions, Salgaocar were struggling in the league as they started with a high scoring draw against promoted side Panjim Footballers, followed by the 3-2 defeat at the hands of Sporting Clube de Goa in the last match.

Salgaocar coach Norbert Gonsalves made only one change to his side as Malvin Lobo found a place in starting XI, While Dempo gaffer Samir Naik chose to go with the same line-up which earned him full points in the last match.

The match started with an end-to-end affair as both the keepers were tested in the early minutes of the match. Salgaocar’s U-20 Ribhav Sardessai tried his luck from the distance with a quick shot only to see it goes wide by hairline distance.

At the other end, Dempo had the best chance to take the lead in the 12th minutes when Salgaocar defenders Lenny Pereira and Melvin failed to clear Nickson Castanha’s long-distance free-kick as the ball rolled to Beevan D’Mello in the box but the striker saw his out-footer easily collected by Salgaocar keeper Abhijit Das.

A few minutes later, Salgaocar keeper Das was in action again when he flung high to clear Mario Mascarenhas goal-bound corner. In the very next minute, Salgaocar also came close to scoring when Brian Mascarenhas cut past a defender and went for the glory from the top of the box but his powerful strike missed the target narrowly.

Dempo’s Beevan almost gave a lead to his side in the 36th minutes when he brilliantly headed in from close off Mario’s fine cross but the striker failed to beat the offside trap as the linesman cut short Dempo fans' joy.

However, with just three minutes to halftime whistle, Dempo open their tally as Kapil Hoble made an easy tap-in from the goalmouth to Beevan’s lob pass from the deep right flank, making it 1-0 for the Golden Eagles at the half-time.

Salgaocar coach Norbert brought in newly signed Nigerian striker Joel Sunday in the second half to sharpen them in the attacking, however, he could not manage to make any difference with his performance in the game. With just a minute after coming in, Melvin tried to find the striker in the box but Dempo keeper Agnelo Gomes came out of his position to clear the danger.

A minute later, Dempo came up with a swift attack when Yogesh Kadam covered some ground before curling it to Beevan in the box, but the striker’s powerful header hit the inside of the crossbar and came out into play.

Nestor Dias had another opportunity to double Dempo’s lead when he was brilliantly set up in front of the goal by Velito Cruz with a through pass but Salgaocar keeper Das came up with an excellent save to push his efforts for a corner.

Finally, after wasting so many chances, the Golden Eagles found their second goal in the 73rd minutes through Yogesh as the winger smartly placed the ball in the back of the net after he was brilliantly fed by Beevan with pin-point perfect cross from the right, making it 2-0 for the Panjim based club.

A few minutes later, Sunday had the best chance to reduce the margin for the Green Brigade when Brian found him in the box with just keeper to beat but his powerful header from close was excellently saved by Dempo keeper Agnelo.